Connecting the Unconnected; The Impact of Apps on Your Business Model

Leveraging Apps of Things (AoT) can have a huge impact on your line of business. That being said, successful ‘smart connected products’ are the ones that create a perfect balance between your product, a mobile app and your end user. For that to occur, you and your team must have an in-depth understanding of the mobile world. It’s not just about developing a client side app, but rather developing a mobile platform that will fully support your users, your service, or any other 3rd party service you may need to connect to.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?

Applications of things can open new opportunities for your organization, by better understand your customer’s usage behavior, their potential pain points, ideas on how to solve them, as well as creating personalization options. Moreover, it’s important to think about the added value your customers receive once your product and app connect on their smartphone. One important factor to keep in mind is, your user’s mobile phone is one of the most private and intimate devices they own, so it’s essential that you get it right.

The beauty of IoT (Internet of Things) is in that it allows companies that could once only communicate with their clients at the point of sale, or through customer service, can now be in continuous contact and engaged with their end users through a proprietary app for their product. Moreover, apps for connected devices allows you to know a lot more than just personal or preferred operating modes of your product. It allows you to connect with your customers in ways that were once unimaginable, specifically user trends and behaviors.

THE SKY’S THE LIMIT

Imagine that your mobile app controls the AC or any other home appliance. One of the advantages that AoT (Apps of Things) allows is for it to be customizable for various layouts or skins tailored differently for women, men, girls and boys. Beyond the different themes, it could also ‘feel’ different for various end users, by offering a whole different user experience. It may allow parents to better monitor the power consumption of their children, to include user permissions, or alternatively, to leverage this information to sell additional services.

Another good example comes in the form of home security solutions where the bread and butter are video intercoms, spatial cameras, sensors, etc… Since we’re in 2017 you’ve already connected all these to a specialized app. Now it’s time to think bigger. Seeing you app as merely a remote control with notifications will lead you to missed opportunities for growth, such as offering added storage services, social monitoring, sharing of data, and much more.

When you factor in all of the value that apps of things can produce, like segmentation (Age, sex, location), customization, monetization opportunities, and many more, you can then start thinking about how all of this value translates to more money for the company.

TAKEAWAY

Our key takeaway for you is to challenge the your business development division to find new partnerships and leverage this info to generate more business.